1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to attaching a plastic bag to a container, and more particularly, to a device that attaches a disposable plastic bag to a household container, such as a garbage container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most grocery and retail stores utilize plastic bags with handles instead of paper bags. When the consumers return home from the store, the plastic bags are either discarded in the garbage, returned to a recycling location, or attempted to be used as disposable garbage bags. In the past, the consumer has had to engineer a way to keep the bag supported and open to receive the garbage, or a way to attach the bag to the inside of a garbage container.
What is needed is a device that is easy to use, that allows the consumer to utilize the retail store plastic bags as disposable garbage bags, and that maintains the bag in the open position for accepting garbage. While bag holders have been previously disclosed, they generally possess drawbacks that have limited their usage. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,911 to Goulter, a trash container attachment is described that is designed to accept a plastic bag handle by way of two formed loops separated by a cross-member, which loops protrude vertically upward from the opening of the container. The attachment is held in place in part by the cross-member, which rests outside the container and secures the attachment by fitting under a lip at the rim of the container. This bag holder has the disadvantage, however, of limiting the types of containers that can be used with it. Namely, because the cross-member provides contact from outside the container, common features present in existing garbage containers, such as handles and gussets, would prevent the proper fitting of the cross-member under the lip of a container. Furthermore, for the cross-member to properly serve its attaching function, the container must have a lip--yet not all containers have lips. The external positioning and lip grabbing design of the cross-member also imparts a stiffness to the attachment that makes it difficult to conform to circular-shaped containers. Yet another disadvantage is the inability to fasten or close a lid on a container containing such attachments, by virtue of the loops that extend upward through and out the opening of the container.
Another bag holder, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,808 to Guhl et al., has similar shortcomings. Guhl et al. describe a bag support with an elevated cross-member that accepts a bag handle. Here, because the profile of the bag support extends above the container, this device also prevents the proper use of a container lid. And as with other devices known to the applicant, application of the Guhl et al. bag support to containers other than square-shaped ones finds little success. Furthermore, this bag support loosens easily, owing in part to the inability of the long members inside the container to retain positive contact with the container wall.